MFD ALLTIME
My latest story on the MFD ALLTIME AT BINDING is live at ESPN.COM. Check it out.
15 Minutes
Over the years, I have some logged some time in front of the camera. My first time was during an ESPN televised Swatch Boardercross World Tour event that I was putting on at the Canyons Resort in Park City, UT. That was my first 20 seconds or so in the public eye en route to accumulating my 15 minutes. A few weeks ago, I went to Aspen, Colorado representing Salomon and Atomic at the Freeskier Ski Test. The test gives the magazine to try out next years product so they can include it as content and help people make decisions when buying skis. As part of the test, each manufacturer gives a short video introduction of their ski of choice.
For Atomic, I presented the Bentchetler. Click here for video.
For Salomon, I presented the Rocker 2. Click here for video.
http://freeskier.com/sites/all/modules/jwplayermodule/player/player.swf
Wall Street Journal – Ruby Mountain Heli-Experience
Part of the reason I traveled to Ruby Mountain Heli-Experience was to ski for a photo shoot which would support a Wall Street Journal Article. The article published on Friday and can be seen here. I’m in the middle wearing a green jacket in the lead photo for the article. If you click on the slideshow tab you can see me in photos # 1, 4 (green jacket in the middle) and 9.
Entering Zone 5
I’m still stationed over in sunny Aspen, Colorado for the Freeskier Magazine ski test. The weather has been outstanding for skiing with your shirt off and was a balmy 45 degrees today. My latest ESPN.com story published today about a new area at Snowbird that recently opened. Click here to check it out.
World Championship Halfpipe
I covered the FIS World Championship Halfpipe competition for ESPN on Saturday. It was my first true “news coverage” where the story needed to filed immediately following the event. The keys to be successful were to document the winning runs hit by hit and have quotes from the winners. I was fortunate to be surrounded by pro skiers in the bottom of the pipe who passed me the winning runs as it’s tough to call a pipe run. I was also able to sneak in and grab quick quotes from women’s winner Roz G and men’s winner Mike Riddle. I literally jogged back to the press room and filed my story before the winners sat down for their press conferences where the rest of the media would obtain their quotes. It was a good experience to be on deadline and knock out a story.
Playing Catch Up
I have new posts but I need to catch up a bit. Utah is currently trapped in a high pressure system and while the resorts are skiing well, there is no powder skiing in bounds. On Wednesday, January 5, I went for my first real walk in Big Cottonwood Canyon in search of some powder. John Howe and I headed out Broads Fork. The avalanche danger was relatively low with the exception of upper elevation wind hammered slopes. John and I have a similar philosophy when touring together with the goal of skiing another day. We walked for about 2 hours and our summit view produced a beautiful view of a smog filled Salt Lake City. We found some solid untracked snow with approximately 8 to 10 inches of cream on top of a supportable layer. Enjoy the photos.
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Leo Ahrens
My latest story is up on espn.com. I had the opportunity to profile and shoot 17-year-old Alta skier Leo Ahrens. Leo is a ripping skier and great kid. Click on this link and check it out.
Christmas Day
I posted a quick update Christmas morning of my espn.com article as I sat in my car in an East Vail parking lot. I was waiting for my friend and pro photographer Jeff Cricco to show up so we could head out on a ski tour. Cricco pulled in with fellow Vail resident and Heli-Guide Will Spilo. This was my first ever Spilo encounter.
The three of us piled into Spilo’s Toyota Tundra, crossed the highway, parked and readied our touring gear. I think Cricco mentioned something about a 40+ degree chute but I really had no beta so I put my head down and chased Spilo on his split board. We followed a straight-up skin track that looked like it was made by one person. The ascent was pretty straight forward on a relatively thin and firm snow pack which made it pretty easy to climb. We hiked for approximately 2 hours and took a little break and readied out gear. We traversed for a few minutes looking for our entry point.
It was then that I found out that we were going to ski the Y couloir on the Gore Range. The Y is a classic couloir, steep and pretty narrow. In a normal snow year, skiing the Y in December would be unheard of. Fortunately for us, this is not a normal snow year and the traditionally avalanche prone Colorado snowpack was surprisingly stable. As we stood at the top of our entry point we went through a debate on whether or not this was a good idea. We had checked the avalanche report which showed that our aspect was quite stable and dug some hasty pits. Both Spilo and Cricco have a tremendous amount of backcountry experience and we made the decision to head in albeit with maximum safety precaution. As we needed to be alert and ready should the couloir pull out, I never pulled my camera from my bag. If someone was to go for a ride, the outcome would not be good.
Spilo dropped first and pulled a ton of snow off our entry face. He entered the couloir, made a few turns and posted up under a cliff to run safety for Cricco and I. Cricco did the same and I followed. Each of us had to manage our sluff on the entry but all posted up safely under the cliff. From there we cruised one at a time down an approximate 800 vertical foot section of the couloir. The snow was perfect and the snow pack proved to be stable. After a few high fives we headed back through the woods and skied back to the car. Thanks to Cricco and Spilo for an epic Christmas present!
A view of the Y Couloir from I-70
Merry Christmas
I just got a sweet little Christmas present. My second espn.com story ran this am. Check out my piece on the Alta Gun.
Getting it Handled
After two consecutive interview days, I was back on the hill today. Interview one on Tuesday included 3 solid hours of speaking in French which if you are not habituated to, uses a tremendous amount of brain power. It requires formal processing in order to understand what the other party is saying and what your response will be. Yesterday’s interview was much easier as it was 100% in English. I did manage to sneak in 2 runs yesterday prior to attending a focus group for Salomon. I can not speak about the products featured in the focus group but I can say how impressed I was by the fact that Salomon employees not only respect their coworkers opinions but those of independent consumers. This was a dramatic departure from the way I spent my last six years and a much better way to do business.
So back to the hill. My friend Chris Hand picked me up and we weaved up HWY 210 to some grisly, grey skies. I again was not overly enthusiastic about getting out of his truck. Our first chairlift ride was raw and cold. We sped out the Alta high traverse and dipped into one of the West Rustler trails. The surface was an amazingly creamy, wind-blown snow. Alta continues to amaze me, on days when there is absolutely no way the snow can be good, it is. Hand and I skied a bunch of laps and took some photos. We got some decent shots considering the grey skies and lack of new snow. In my favorite shot, Chris kicked off some snow while skiing down and I picked up a tiny white ball next to his head in the image. Enjoy the photos.
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Teach Me How To Dougie
On Sunday I finally tracked down my good friend Dougie Mills for some afternoon Alta turns. After mashing around the resort for a few hours, Dougie suggested we roll back to his house on the bypass road for some of his girlfriends home made gumbo (YEAH SUSIE). Dougie lives in amazing spot in between Alta and Snowbird. The shoulder of Alta was open so we hit up one of Dougie’s secret stashes and skied straight to his house. On the hike out to the shoulder we ran into Jesse Weeks and ripped up the run of the day. I got some solid shots of Dougie and Jesse.
Dougie is also famous for inventing his own dance appropriately named “the Dougie.” Check out his moves in the video below. If we’re lucky, Dougie will invite us to a gathering this winter and we can all Dougie together. Make sure to scroll down and see some great shots of Dougie and Jesse.
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POW MOW
Mixing it up is always a good thing. Following a Friday night highlighted by Scott Markewitz’s gallery opening and a Friday night Xmas cookie party where I instituted a free hand division, my friend Piercey and I decided to go stray from Little Cottonwood Canyon and go check out Powder Mountain. Powder Mountain is located in Eden, UT and I would have to say it’s a little more country than the rock and roll of Little Cottonwood Canyon.
The day had a Murphy’s Law phenomenon from the start but was still really fun. First we tried to pick up breakfast in Sugarhouse but our late start made this a challenge. It took two stops to successfully get breakfast. Then Piercey needed gas but a tree service truck was blocking the pumps. After filling the gas tank, Piercey needed to fill up his tires, apparently Firestone is not the best place to get new tires as all his tires had unsafe tire pressure levels. Finally, we were headed to the highway for the hour long drive to Powder. While ripping up I-15, one of Piercey’s tires still had an unsafe wobble. We pulled off the highway in Bountiful to find out that the nice folks at Firestone also neglected to tighten down his lug nuts.
The drive to Powder ends with a steep seven mile climb up to the main base area. While cruising up the road, it was apparent that Powder Mountain is not in the same snow pack situation as Little Cottonwood Canyon, it was very thin. The last time I skied Powder was four years ago on an epic day which was not to be repeated. The “good” parts of the mountain are not yet open so the majority of skiing was low angle. We skied from the parking lot to a slow triple en route to the one high-speed quad at Powder. We tried to hit a slightly steeper section off the triple but it was super thin. On my first turn of the day, I clipped a hidden rock and dropped a ski. Fortunately for me the snow was pretty heavy and I stuck in, avoiding tumbling over the rocks below. From there we decided to do a mellow ski around and look for some spots to take pictures. Piercey is a photographer so he and I took turns shooting each other. Considering the lack of snow and the low angle conditions, we still managed to produce some cool shots. It was especially cool to be out with Piercey as Saturday marked the first time I have been on the other side of the lens this season.
I do recommend skiing Powder Mountain, the vibe is very cool and mellow. There is always fresh snow to be had days after storms and when the cat skiing and road skiing operations are open the mountain is really fun. Enjoy the photos.
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The Week in Review
It has not been an epic week for blog posting for me. While the skiing has been good, the weather has been overcast (except for Monday). I have had some fun adventures but no photos to support.
Monday appeared to be the best day of the short ski season. I say appeared as I was on the hill but not truly skiing. I was at Snowbird assisting legendary ski photographer Scott Markewtiz on a photo shoot. My responsibility was to carry a massive backpack with a Ranger strobe and two spare batteries. My guess is the pack weighed 60lbs. Watching Scott is impressionable, he is a talented photographer with a dialed program. I hauled the pack from point to point and set up the strobe for most shots. Skiing with a backpack that heavy is not an easy task. I am happy to say that I kept it upright and was always positioned in the right spot for Scott to get the shot.
Tuesday I sat down with Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) Avalanche Forecaster Liam Fitzgerald and learned a tremendous amount about the avalanche control methods employed by UDOT in Little Cottonwood Canyon. This was for a side project that I am working on launching as we speak.
Wednesday I ran up to Alta to get some photo support for my conversation with Liam.
Thursday phone interview.
Per my norm, I spent a tremendous amount of time searching for jobs. Next week is a big one, I have face to face interviews on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday for some pretty cool positions. I am confident that something s going to pop next week which is super timely as next week marks my last on unemployment (unless the government decides to award extensions). Needless to say I am ready to be working full time and making a difference.
Red Baldy – Part Deux
After multiple days of frigid temps and low cloud cover, the sun came out and the temps rose. With a fairly stable snowpack, we decided to go back to Red Baldy and nail it from the top. The group changed for the second attempt. I joined Jason Prigge, Dave Steiner, Ben Buehner and Ivor Allsop, who was also on the first attempt. Utah has received a considerable amount of snow in the last 2 weeks making today’s approach and exit substantially easier than it was 2 weeks ago. The hike in is still a long one and I am super tired as I type.
We pulled in to the White Pine parking lot around 9:30am and witnessed the remnants of a crazy car accident. A Jeep lost control descending HWY 210, jumped through a tight grove of Aspens, crossed the White Pine parking lot road and was stuck deep in the Aspen grove on the other side of the road. The Jeep was mangled and the report was the driver was still alive. Take it slow driving Little Cottonwood Canyon, I can tell you from experience that if you drive faster you will not make up much time. Let the attached photo be a lesson to us all, drive HWY 210 with care.
We were very fortunate to have clear, sunny skies for our entire hike and a well laid skin track for the majority of the ascent. Dave, Ivor and Jason took turns breaking trail to the summit. The summit was pretty wind hammered as were the first few turns. Once we got down the face a bit the snow quality changed to give us all ripping runs. I took a bunch of photos. The tour took us around 5hrs and now we can officially check Red Baldy of the list.
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How I Mountain Video
The Canyons Resort in Park City, UT is currently hosting a contest for “the ultimate mountain gig.” They are looking for someone to blog about their mountain experiences at the Canyons. As I am already doing this for fun, I thought it would be a great idea to enter the contest. I already have a list of story ideas to make the blog pop if I win the contest.
The winner is well rewarded with the following:
A SEASON PASS TO CANYONS
SUPERIOR (SUITE) LODGING AT THE WALDORF ASTORIA
SALARY OF $40,000 FOR JUST FOUR MONTHS OF `HARD WORK`
USE OF CAMERA, VIDEO CAMERA AND LAPTOP
HEAD-TO-TOE SKI OR BOARD GEAR
CANYONS CLUB ACCESS
AIRFARE TO AND FROM CANYONS
SPA TREATMENTS
SKI SCHOOL AND AVALANCHE TRAINING CLINICS
FIRST TRACKS AND HELI SKIING ACCESS
VIP CREDENTIALS FOR ALL CANYONS EVENTS
Check out my video:
[Vimeo 17178722]
Alta is Firing
You haven’t eaten your turkey dinner yet and Alta is sitting on almost a 60″ base with more snow in the forecast this week. I wish I hadn’t given away my turkey fryer when I moved from Ketchum so I could set it up in the Alta parking lot on Thursday. I can’t think of a better place to spend Thanksgiving.
Alta is firing right now. For the second consecutive day, I am able to say that I’ve had my best day of the year and it looks like the trend will continue all week. Ben and I drove up the canyon this morning amidst completely gray skies. Ironically, when we drove past Snowbird it was’nt snowing. When we approached Alta it was dumping and the wind was pushing pretty hard. I looked at Ben and said “I don’t even want to get out of the car.” Alta had reported 2″ of snow and although I have a closet full of warm clothes I wasn’t sure if I was ready to brave the elements. We dressed as the lift line cleared out, headed up the Collins chair and BAM run of the year.
Yeah, there was weather all day but that’s why you own ski gear…to brave the elements. We met up with Dan Withey and Jesse Weeks and proceeded to have run after run of Utah’s fine snow.
Side Note: Some punk stole my poles from in front of the Goldminer’s yesterday. If you see a pair of 46″ red and white Scott poles as seen on this link with big orange disc baskets get them back for me by taking whatever measures necessary. Only a few people on the planet have the orange baskets and most of them are in Canada. I’ll give a pair of goggles to anyone who returns them safely to me. I’ll throw in an extra lens if you get me photos of how you tortured the thief.
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Alta Opening Day
The gray bird skies kept the masses away from Alta’s opening day while the chosen ones who braved the sub-par light conditions reaped the benefits of some stellar early season skiing conditions. The skiing was so good that there was no time to stop and take the camera out.
Ben Buehner picked me up at 8am and we were on-line to watch the first Collins chair of the season head up the hill. In line we met up with long time Alta locals the Withey brothers , Dan and Jeff, and proceeded to ski early season creamy and foamy snow off the Collins chairlift that was super edgeable and unbelievably ripping.
Now there is a winter storm warning in effect for the Cottonwood Canyons that is predicted to drop 3 to 4 feet of snow by Wednesday. It’s officially winter in Utah and it the storm cycle is setting up to deliver a November to remember. I’ve said it once and I’m sure I’ll be repeating myself all winter, I’m so happy to be back in Utah.
The Final Countdown
I’m like a kid in a candy store right now because I get to ski Alta tomorrow and all season (unless I find a job). After six years of schussing with the beautiful people in Sun Valley, I am back in the Wastach and couldn’t be happier. I moved to Ketchum, ID in 2004 and the mountain received a whopping 150 inches. That same winter, Alta toppled the 650 inch barrier. I was not very happy that winter. Now, I’m back at Alta and can’t wait to ring in opening day tomorrow.
I ran up to Alta today and snapped some pictures of a bustling base area prepping for opening day. I also spent half the day at the Mac store getting a new hard drive. I loaded CS5 onto my machine yesterday and my computer crashed. Apple’s customer service is outstanding and I am up and running again. I am learning some new software and some of my photos look a bit funky. I’ll be working on fixing my images over the next few days.
Side note: If you’re ever in Salt Lake, you have to hit up Pat’s Barbecue for some award winning bbq right off 2100S and State. I’ve got to run to an opening night party so that’s all for now.
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The King of Blogs
I am sitting at my computer, wearing my new Salomon Ghost ski boots, watching an extreme wind scour the impeccably green grass outside my current home in Park City, UT. I love getting new boots but they always have a break-in period hence my computer booting. For the past 6 months I have called Park City home as I search for my next big step. Apart from countless hours job searching, I have had a tremendous time. I really enjoy the networking component and getting back in touch with friends and contacts but scouring the job boards is painful. As I reminisce about the last six months, I can’t help but think about the great friends I have and the unbelievable support they provide to me.
Around a month ago, I had the idea to start a blog. A key to weathering a job search is to not get bored. When you’re bored your mind spins and you can easily become negative. I ran into a spot of boredom a month ago and to combat it, I started blogging. Subsequently, I also hopped back into a passion of mine that I had neglected while living in Ketchum, photography. Blogging has given me an opportunity to keep my writing up and recount the numerous epic experiences I have shared with my friends while relearning how to take photos.
While I am far from the King of Blogs, I did surpass 1,000 views today in under a month. To many blogs this is not a high number, but as I only post my updates on facebook to me it represents my tight community of friends interest in my program. I am also very happy with my photo progress and while tremendously critical of my own work, I took some photos on Saturday that I am extremely happy with.
By using “the King” in my title, I also get to run a photo my friend Chris Pearson took of me with the King of Motocross this past summer. I headed to the Powder Mountain Motocross with a group of friends to see my buddy Dyke Morris from Ketchum, my main man Lawrence “Lou Man Group” from Monster Energy and the King of Motocross Jeremy McGrath. The race was super fun to watch and the King ran away with the title. In between motos, the King was signing autographs and taking pictures with fans. I had an opportunity to meet Jeremy and snap a photo as did my little buddy Jackson Miller (who also got his shirt autographed).
Check out the photos of Jackson and I and thanks for checking out my blog. It’s been a fun way to kill some time.
The King and I. Photo: Chris Pearson
Jackson and the King (with Lou Man in the Background). Photo: Chris Pearson
The Quest for Red Baldy
A little after 11am on Saturday, we headed out of the White Pine parking lot in Little Cottonwood Canyon with the goal of skiing Red Baldy. I was tagging along with John Howe, Jeremy Pack and Ivor Allsop. I have not ski toured much in the Wasatch but was forewarned that this was a big tour. I was excited to test out my new Salomon Quest Boots, get some exercise, take some photos and ski some early winter Wasatch powder.
In what seems like a pattern for me this year, our ski tour was met with visibility issues. The hike in was filled with sucker holes showcasing the beauty of the Wasatch Mountains followed by dense cloud cover that closed out our views. After close to four hours of skinning in, we hit the base of Red Baldy. Sadly, we were met with an extreme cloud bank that closed out our visibility altogether. The snow pack was relatively thin and we were atop a field of glacial deposit granite boulders. We made an attempt at the summit but chose to stay low and not sacrifice ourselves to the early season snow gods. The last thing any of us wanted to do was get injured on a hidden granite boulder. John dug a quick pit to check the stability of the snow pack and upon getting the go ahead we charged down one at a time in a vertigo inducing cloudy haze.
Immediately after our descent the cloud cover lifted for a few minutes but unfortunately we were not victorious in the visibility game. Fortunately we did get some decent turns but nothing approaching epic. I snapped some photos, mostly of Ivor as he and I worked the same lines. Ivor was also dressed appropriately for a photo shoot wearing colorful Oakley pants that popped nicely out of the gray clouds.
The tour was really fun however filled with exercise more than powder. We all agreed to head back when the weather permits and lay a full assault on Red Baldy’s impressive face.
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Alta Fresh
It’s truly remarkable how much snow falls in the Cottonwood Canyons compared to Park City. The resorts in Park City physically back up to the Cottonwoods but operate on a different snow program. Yesterday, I enjoyed another 15″ of snow at the Alta Ski Area while in Park City it’s currently 24 degrees outside and the grass is green. Snow will fall in Park City but the early season Utah powder antics are reserved for the Cottonwoods and specifically Alta.
I am ecstatic to report that yesterday I secured my Alta pass for the winter. I held an Alta pass from 1999 to 2003 and since 2004. Sadly my schedule was always tricky and although I was logging ski days around the globe, not enough were at Alta. If I am lucky enough to stay in UT this winter, I will do my best to make up for lost time. When you’re ready to come visit, I will give you a hand held guided tour of Alta. On a side note, this invitation also extends to my dad and his buddies. They try to steer clear of me on the hill and on bikes because they are convinced I try to hurt them. Please consider this a waving of the white flag. I promise to slow the pace down, so long as it hasn’t snowed more than a foot.
Yesterday we set out to get some exercise and grab some early season powder turns. Today’s group housed three snowboarders and one skier. Rob Ho, Ivor Allsop and I were snow shredding with Ben Buehner, who was two planking. The masses were on the hill and the parking lot resembled an ordinary ski day except for the snowboarders. Alta is scheduled to open in just under nine days, conditions permitting. The visibility was challenging but the snow was really soft and flowing in your face. I did my best to grab a few photos through the overcast skies.
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